The Unsung Hero: Redux
by DN7
Summary: 'Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few' -Churchill. The Ceph have been beaten back, and humanity owes it's existence to a small group of extraordinary fighters, one of whom has his own debts. Some of which have a way of sneaking up when they are least expected. (AU, OC/Liara, M!Shep/Ash)
1. Prologue

**The Unsung Hero: Redux**

**Prologue **

**(Post date: 3/7/13)**

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**A/N: I'M BACK BITCHES!**

**Main A/N at the end.**

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**The Unsung Hero – Adapted From James Anderson**

The heroes of legend  
So great and powerful  
Their stories will live  
Well beyond their years  
But what about the unsung one

The one who pushed the hero on  
Does he not deserve praise  
Destiny may not have chosen him  
Fate must have overlooked him  
But he too fought

Most importantly, he sacrificed  
He lost as much if not more  
Than the hero thought

Nothing can be done alone  
This too often is forgotten  
Focus given to the chosen  
Rather than the one who chose

Sacrifice is not worth any cost  
If it is not done by the ones who chose  
A simple, yet immense decision

Sometimes the greater hero isn't the destined one  
It is the one that stood by the hero  
Never regretting the choice they made  
But simply pushed forward toward their goal

Never again overlook the companion  
For something important will be missed  
That may be lost forever

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Time can be a funny thing. I once thought it was only a matter of time before I died. Now though? I'm not so sure I can die. At least not before I find the answer I've been looking for...

After the prevention of Ceph Stage Three in 2047, humanity got it's act together. CELL was annihilated, in more ways than one could imagine. The infrastructure they left behind, the technology they created thanks to their research on the Ceph, lead to what many experts called a 'Second Scientific Revolution'. With the wireless energy transfer satellite network still intact, all it took was the reactivation of some nuclear power plants and things got back to semi normal.

I let myself slip into memory though, the events of the Liberty Dome shouldn't be told through my eyes. Not yet anyway. Psycho and Strickland eventually found me, claimed it the ultimate irony at where I ended up. I simply told them that it makes sense that where I first lost my humanity, I also regained it. Naturally Psycho was his usual self, claimed I could have taken the suit off at any point. Strickland though said I needed to get involved in the rebuilding process, take part.

After what I'd been through though, I turned her down. Even with the amount of Ceph exosuits and other miscellaneous tech to go over, the nanosuits were still the best bet anyone had at a short term solution to solving the mysteries of Ceph technology.

Luckily for me, I didn't have my suit anymore. Free fall through atmosphere from orbit would do that. Again Psycho said I had it easy compared to him. I let him have his moment of glory. He and I were the only 'known' previous wearers of nanosuits. Our brotherhood was mostly destroyed. If only he knew.

Like I said, time can be a funny thing. Before I knew it, Psycho was dead. Died of natural causes in his bed. Over a hundred and twenty years old. A statue of him was erected somewhere in London after the funeral, both for him and for all of the nanosuit operatives killed in action or murdered by CELL. They forgot a few names though when I went to pay my respects.

Living as long as I have, it gives you a certain perspective on things. Sure humanities knowledge about the physical realm, from the atoms that make us to the cosmic unreachables, expanded but that didn't matter in the scheme of things.

Humanity has always proven itself to be it's own worst enemy, even when confronted by something as powerful as the Ceph. Wars still broke out over trivial things. Political parties and regimes flow and ebb. I knew it was only a matter of time before we ran into the Ceph again, so I planned. Gathered those few who could join the cause together and organized ourselves for the long haul. The brotherhood, while diminished, still stood.

Earth, for all her gifts to us, began to get too crowded after awhile. Space finally became our last resort. Installations built on the moon years ago were reactivated and brought on line. Mars came a few decades after that. Soon the human race began to spread our wings in our home system. Scouring the seemingly infinite asteroids and moons for precious ores.

All the while, nearly every scientist on Earth studied what they had on hand about the nanosuits. Their combat capabilities too great to be ignored by militaries, their medical applications sought after by pharmaceutical corporations. Everyone had something they wanted from an original nanosuit, but they all had to start from scratch. Hargreave and Rasch, it seems, were very good at destroying all evidence of their work with Ceph DNA and nanotech.

All the more reason for me and the others to stay in the shadows. As soon as we could, we left Earth. I changed my face a bit to throw off any cursory identification searches, and went to Mars. Leave it to humans to create amazing computer technologies that have the simplest means to get around them.

By the time the Prothean info cache was found, I had changed my face again. I was there as the lead scientists decoded the monolith's information stream. The tech was of a completely different type than previously gathered samples of Ceph technology. That didn't mean jack shit to me though. Sooner or later, we would encounter them again. This just meant that there were other aliens out there.

Naturally when the existence of yet another race of aliens became public, humans did the predictable thing. Everything from riots and suicide to sending messages in any way possible beyond the solar system. Then when the huge mass relay was discovered, there was a debate as to if it should be opened.

Many argued that it was Pandora's box, and once opened it could never be sealed. Some said it was just another ploy by the Ceph, while others said it would allow humanity to escape any potential second invasion.

For good or ill, it was opened.

The data cache and the relay allowed humanity to expand even faster than before. Previous FTL attempts had come up quite short, the energy required to even attempt to duplicate the Ceph's Einstein-Rosen bridge were insane, even with the whole planet's energy production poured into it. The science behind it, even crazier than the energy it took. In the end, it made for a helluva fireworks show.

New mass effect physics lead to a particular increase in gauss weaponry. Recoil was reduced dramatically while still increasing the range, speed, and power of the rounds, while allowing for smaller power packs to be used. With out the need for incredibly advanced power cells, hybrid gauss/mass effect based weapons began to take off. The trade off in increased thermal energy was a non-issue, as thermal energy transfer technology was one of the few things humanity had managed to create themselves from studying Ceph tech.

Things went well for another few years, humanity managed to find and colonize at least a dozen new worlds thanks to the expansive mass relay system. The brotherhood and I tried to be everywhere at once, going to new sections of space when a relay was opened, but after all we're only human. Luckily, I managed to find a few more friends to help us out.

What was left of the nanosuit brotherhood and our new members all too quickly appointed me as the leader of our growing group. Our purpose, to be there as humanity expands, on the look out for a second Ceph encounter, and eradicate it before it could begin.

We didn't find the Ceph though, not right away.

2157. Shanxi. Humanities Second Contact with an alien species.

I wasn't there when the fighting started, but when I went in with the 2nd Fleet, I saw only opportunity. The aliens used similar mass effect technology, but as to be expected they used it differently. They also had a working knowledge of the galaxy and the relays. Having as many alien allies as possible would only make the Ceph's job of eradicating us, again, that much harder.

When the Systems Alliance was created shortly after the discovery of the Mars Prothean ruins, the world's leading military minds had one common goal. To create a space-borne naval armada that would allow humanity to not only expand it's sphere of influence, but to fight against the Ceph with everything we had.

That kind of drive in space ship weapons design was something that threw the new aliens for a loop. They did not expect ships that fired rounds that exploded in gigantic plasma bursts or created micro singularities. Neither did they expect those rounds in a massive broadside barrage.

They also didn't expect the other technology humanity had developed to combat any future Ceph. Mechanized heavy armor with integrated heavy weapons that were also capable of running as fast as their escort vehicles. Wireless energy transfer towers that would rapidly recharge a depleted kinetic barrier capacitor, gauss rifles that had fire power better suited for a vehicle being wielded by one man. Nannites that allowed for small miracles to occur in the human body. Synthetic muscle that doubled as flexible armor. Swarms of expendable drones controlled by a few humans connected to a computer in a bunker far below.

The aliens had occupied Shanxi for three months, and they paid for it while there. The arrival of the 2nd Fleet took out the interest owed. Humanity arrived on the galactic stage and in a big way.

The aliens that occupied Shanxi, Turians, had done so because of some old law made by a group called the Council. It only took me a few minutes of scanning their extranet to see the whole picture. Galactic civilization, save for humanity, depends upon the recovery of ancient Prothean data caches and use of the mass relays to advance themselves. They had effectively backed themselves up into a corner technologically speaking as every single thing they had used element zero to generate the mass effect in some way. They were also afraid to push their boundaries, fearing the potential consequences, while being ignorant of their own faults.

So when humanity showed up with a combination of Ceph, Prothean, and good ol' Terran technology as well as previous experience with a hostile alien species, we were regarded with awe and suspicion. Some didn't believe the facts of the Ceph Incursion, after all it's hard to believe something if not offered some form of solid evidence. Even the limited Ceph DNA and tech samples handed to the Council were not enough. They had never seen the Ceph before now, and likely wouldn't believe the threat they posed unless they faced it themselves.

That didn't matter though, they saw the huge gap in technology humanity had over them, and they made demands and pleas simultaneously. They wanted the Alliance to limit it's use of its incredibly powerful ships, as well as discontinue some of it's neural computer intelligence research. However, they also pleaded for access to the wondrous medigel and wireless energy transfer technology.

Thankfully, human and alien politics were nearly the same. Humanity was able to keep it's superior ship weaponry as long as Council officials could take stock of the Alliance's current neural computer intelligence research as well as purchasing a contract for the major pharmaceuticals to produce enough medigel for the entire galaxy. In return, humanity would be a part of the Citadel races as long as the Alliance agreed to use it's impressive fleet to patrol the troublesome Attican Traverse and Skyllian Verge border sectors with the Turians in joint maneuvers. Talks would be renewed at a later date for a more 'advanced' technology exchange.

There were of course other deals made individually with the other species, but on the whole humanity set itself up nicely.

The brotherhood and I though kept up our search for any potential signs of the Ceph. I got into a few rough spots here and there, mainly because the power of modern weapons took a little getting used to in a straight up fire fight, but for the most part I remained off the grid and only a rumor floating on the extranet.

When you live as long as I do though, you end up giving out a few IOU's as well as taking some. A few days back member of the brotherhood sent me a message saying that one of my IOU's was calling me in, back to Earth.

I reviewed the forwarded message in the restroom of the shuttle I'm currently on, one more time out of habit to be sure I had everything down.

_'Phoenix_

_We have a 'special' situation going on. We got one of our own elected as a Spectre candidate. I need you to ensure nothing goes wrong on the op._

_- Hackett'_

After closing the omnitool's message screen, I looked up into the mirror of the restroom. With a bit of focus, my old face resurfaced. Dark skin, strong jaw line, naturally bald, deep bass of a voice.

The face of Prophet was back, and exiting the restroom, I glanced to the shuttles view port. There I could see one of the many orbital ship yards that orbited the planet Earth. Many of them held cruisers in various states of construction. However, one of them was away from the rest with most of the equipment arms retracted. Crews floated amongst the yard arms, moving crates that weighed hundreds of pounds into the gleaming frigate's belly hangar bay single handedly in zero-g.

"_Attention all passengers, we will be arriving at the mooring station for the _SSV Normandy_ momentarily. Please retake your seats and await confirmation of docking."_

I took a seat next to some young blonde haired kid, he didn't even notice the changes I made since I got up. One sure sign of a FNG. That and he was staring googly eyed out at our destination. I sighed and relaxed into my seat.

Looking around, I noticed the man across the aisle from me giving me an appraisal. Good, at least someone on this ship knows what's going on around them. One thing I never did agree on was the complete integration of the armed forces for the Alliance. Each nation had it's specialties and quirks to offer, and they were lost in the merge. In the end, I guess they made up for it with their Interplanetary Combative Training courses. Got into a bar fight once with what I guessed to be an N6, real hot head he was. Good, but undisciplined and easy to bait.

With the shuttle docking, the rest of the passengers got up and made for the exit with their gear. I waited to let them all pass. I had no gear to worry about anyway. The man who gave me the once over though waited as well, and it was then I noticed the N7 emblem on his sweater. I ran my own profiling on him, his service history, old social networking profiles, extranet searches, everything he ever did I could see. The marker Hackett called in this time around made sense now.

I smiled for moment, barely nodding in this Lieutenant Commander Shepard's direction. He regarded me for a moment before going on his way as well, neither approving or disapproving of my presence, merely acknowledging it.

I merely smirked to myself, glanced around the empty cabin, then activated my cloak and followed behind him.

As I did, I could only think one thing.

_Prophet hasn't been _entirely_ forgotten._

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**A/N:**

**Yup... The author of the first of the Crysis/Mass Effect story here on FF is back with the revised version! This is just something to whet your appetites as I continue my work on the overarching plot. As you can already tell, it's going to be quite a bit different than the original fic I had posted.**

**From what I have planned out now, I'd like to think of it as being a 'true' crossover. It won't simply be a Crysis based humanity going through Mass Effect events, or a single Crysis character coming into Mass Effect, or anything of the sort. The elements that make both games great will come together to create one cohesive whole.**

**For those of you who will inevitably ask, yes that does include the eventual ending of this series.**

**I'd like to take this moment to thank LEGION001 for his sort-of beta-reading he does for all of my work. He's been a huge help, especially in the planning portion of TUH:R!**

**As always, I have to iterate this.**

**I DO NOT KNOW WHEN THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE UP!**

**I have a hectic real life that I have to work around first before I write. I still have to plan this fic out in it's entirety through the end of the first game's events. I also have my other fic, Evolution, to work on as well.**

**So please, do not leave reviews asking when the next chapter will be up. Rather, leave reviews that will encourage me to keep writing even when I don't feel like it! Constructive support goes a long way in my book!**

**Final note I promise. This Saturday is my birthday, so I will be spending the next three days partying it up with my friends. Reviews and PM's responding to said reviews will probably occur on Monday. Just a heads up.**

**Thanks everyone! I hope you all will enjoy the upcoming ride! I know I will!**

**~DN7**


	2. Prometheus

**The Unsung Hero: Redux**

**Chapter One: Prometheus**

**Posted (3/22/2013)**

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**A/N: I finally managed to get all the ME3 DLC downloaded and spent a solid afternoon playing through it all. **

**The feels, man... **

**Very nearly cried manly tears at the fact that Shepard's story is done as well as that of all the characters we've come to love. I only hope I do them justice with this fic. That said, I greatly appreciate all of your reviews, favorites, and subs guys.**

**Longer A/N at the end as usual, you guys don't come here to read my rants.**

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**Background music: **

**Gift Of Life by Thomas Bergersen on the album Illusions**

**Icarus by Two Steps From Hell on the album Skyworld**

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**January 3rd, 2183**

**Therum, Knossos System, Artemis Tau Cluster**

**Pit Mine Alpha-23**

"Clear the blast zone! Fire in the hole! Fire in the hole! Fire in the hole!" The Turian foreman yelled via loudspeaker, his voice echoing off the mining pits walls. All the workers of the Eldfell-Ashland Energy company were either in their vehicles, prepped to get the soon-to-be-rubble out of the way and on to sorting, or in safety bunkers to await in the blast. The planet Therum, while relatively young for a mining colony, was well known to have rich heavy-metal deposits. The current 750 meter deep pit mine was being expanded to follow a vein of tungsten.

Seconds later, a massive blast brought down a ten meter wide section of the pits walls. This was only the first of many such explosions, as two more on either side occurred, bringing down another two ten-meter sections. The explosions then cascaded along the wall, bringing down the entire side. Once the dust settled, the vehicle crews moved in to gather the rubble. While it may not contain the ores they are looking for, it still provided much needed raw material for the planets growing infrastructure.

As Therum's twenty-eight hour day moved on, one of the vehicle operators began to have trouble loading up a section of rubble. The Salarian in the vehicle grunted and revved the engine to coax the loading arm upwards. The engine and hydraulic arms just groaned in protest at the action. Backing off the power, the Salarian called over the foreman via omni-tool.

"What's going on here?" The Turian yelled as he exited his truck. He could see the Salarian's vehicle was lodged under the last bit of rubble to be removed from that section of the mines wall.

The Salarian stuck his head out, "I don't know boss! It's like I'm hooked on something and I can't back out either!"

Grumbling, the Turian called over a clean up crew to clear away the rubble that was on top of the vehicles loading bucket. A few minutes of work and they found the source of the problem. The tongs of the loading bucket were caught underneath an unnatural piece of metal that continued into the wall.

Looking over the scene, the Turian brought up Eldfell-Ashland's planetary office on his omni-tool, "Hey this site Alpha-23, we found something... It may be another ruin... Is that Prothean expert and her team still on planet?"

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"Doctor T'Soni! Doctor T'Soni!"

Liara could hear her assistant's voice calling out for her as she came down the elevator. Deciding to wait until she actually arrived by her, Liara kept working on carefully cleaning out the ancient control panel. Somehow it was connected to this room, which was just one of many like it in the tower that had been uncovered some time ago. While it was Prothean in origin, it's true purpose was hard to decipher as to why each room was able to be sealed off by an energy curtain, as far as her translations had told her. Then there was the central elevator of the tower. Until she could safely activate the control panel and access any information it may have, the tower's purpose would remain hidden.

"Doctor!" Her assistant finally made it to the room Liara was working in. Ceasing her work for a moment, Liara looked towards the younger human woman. Alice, Liara believed her name was, had arrived last year courtesy of the university and the Alliance. Roughly the same height as Liara, Alice held a darker skin tone that shone from sweat, indicating she had come down from the surface. With Therum's average temperature being sixty degrees Celsius, it was understandably hot for any species aside from the Krogan. It was balmy thirty degrees in the ruin by comparison.

"Yes what is it?" Liara asked, curious what had the normally reserved human so excited that she had ran from the surface down to her. Standard omni-tool comms would not work over the depth between the surface camp and the area of the ruin Liara was working in, but for Alice to have run showed how important it was.

Alice took a moment to catch her breath from the running before answering, "Eldfell-Ashland has just called. Another ruin had been located not too far from here." She took a drink of water from her canteen before continuing. "They are asking for you to go and assess how to access it."

Liara's eyes widened. While Therum was known to have many Prothean ruins, and Liara has been to several dig sites, she herself has never been present when one was opened for the first time. "Contact the university and tell them we'll need another team here." Liara closed up her tool kit, grabbed her own canteen, and made for the elevator. "How far away is it?" Alice followed her into the elevator.

"By truck, fifteen minutes. Five minutes by skycar, which thankfully I _just_ finished fixing before Eldfell-Ashland called." Alice replied. When the human had first shown up, Liara was wary about working with someone else, let alone a human. However, Alice had quickly proven herself to be what she called a 'jack-of-all-trades' being able to fix any random piece of equipment, as well as offer valuable insights to how human technology worked.

When the human's had made their galactic appearance, she was slightly intrigued by the interesting technology they used, which was claimed to have been developed from contact with another alien race. One that was claimed to be far more powerful than anyone's wildest dreams. It sounded preposterous at the time, but as more and more of the human's technology came into Citadel space, Liara's intrigue began to grow. If there was a race such as what the humans were claiming, one that had the ability to traverse the dark space between _galaxies_ as well as travel using wormholes rather than eezo, the possibilities truly were endless.

The first elevator had reached it's apex, and the two of them stepped out. Walking along the catwalks to the next elevator, Liara brought up her omni-tool. "Perfect. I'll take the skycar there, then once you contact the university, go ahead and bring the truck over. I'm going to need help cataloging everything."

As they stepped into the second elevator, Alice smiled. "Your first real excavation Doctor. Excited?"

Liara laughed slightly, "Nervous more so. It is rare that Prothean ruins are discovered so close together like this. Perhaps this new site will answer what this one once was."

"Or it could be another box of mysteries."

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Several hours of carefully placed and timed demolition charges, the entrance to the newly discovered ruin at Alpha-23 was unearthed. This ruin was geographically much lower than the one Liara and Alice were working at, and it definitely seemed to be built later in Prothean history as well. There were several other things that made this ruin stand out, namely that the entrance was blocked by a thick blast door. Once opened, the ruin continued down deeper before opening up into a large room. In here were numerous data terminals, all covered in fifty thousand years worth of dust and heat damage.

As soon as it was declared structurally safe by an engineer, Liara and Alice began mapping out the ruin, as it held numerous side corridors and passages. Using automated drones, the duo were able to watch on their data pads as the newly found ruin was laid out before them. It seemed to be very similar to a laboratory of some sort, as many of the rooms were laid out in a similar fashion to each other.

"Alright, I think we can safely say that the ruin is mapped now Doctor." Alice spoke as she began to unpack her own tool kit to begin cleaning and inspecting a terminal.

Liara however was still watching a singular drone on the data pad. It said it was in a room that wasn't connected in any way to the rest. "Go on ahead and begin Alice, I'm going to check on this drone. It seems to be malfunctioning." Liara got up and began to walk down one of the passageways.

"You sure you don't want me to come with?"

"I'll be fine. Go ahead and get started. I'll be back before you know it." Liara activated her omni-tool's flash light function, and continued on her way. Calling up the drones recorded path, she followed it until it directed her into a wall.

"By the Goddess, the drone must really be malfunctioning for it to have plotted this course." Sighing as she turned around, she noticed the wall shimmer slightly. "How the..."

The drone then came flying right back through the wall as if it weren't even there, causing Liara to jump back in shock. Looking at her omni-tool, Liara performed a quick scan of the wall. It was giving off a slight energy signature, barely noticeable. When the drone went back through the wall, the signature spiked as the wall rippled once again.

"A hidden doorway... Of course!" Without thinking, Liara pushed her hand through the wall, feeling nothing around it but slight movements of air. Thoughts of how this was possible, how it was powered, and why no one had ever encountered anything like this before went to the back of her mind as she stepped through. The hallway she stepped into seemed to be lined with a material different from the stone and steel used in the passageways in the ruin proper. It appeared to be stone, but it was far too smooth and _organic _looking. Her curiosity building, she continued down the hall.

After a few winding turns, which took her deeper underground, she came upon the room the drone had found. It was more like a large cavern that had what appeared to be Prothean pre-fabs built into it's outer edges. Surrounding the walls were some sort of crystalline structures that provided an eerie light blue glow to the room. At the center of the cavern was a huge stone column, irregularly shaped save for an archway of some sort.

"Goddess..." A sudden chill swept through Liara, causing her to tremble. Checking her omni-tool for the rooms ambient temperature, it was closer to five degrees Celsius than the expected thirty degrees she experienced at the other dig site and at the main level of this ruin. Quickly calling up a geographic map, provided to her by Eldfell-Ashland, she checked thermographic scans of the area. Oddly enough, a magma vent was within five hundred meters of her current position, but rather than be scorching hot in here, Liara was almost wishing for a coat.

Her innate curiosity getting the better of her, Liara began scanning everything she could see to find the source of the chilling effect on the room. Each of the Prothean pre-fabs held numerous data terminals, but nothing she could tell was causing the cooling. Finally, she scanned the central column and the archway. The stone column itself was several degrees warmer then the room, while the archway provided no heat signature at all that the omni-tool could pick up.

"What in the Goddess' name is this place..." Liara wondered out loud, right before she lightly touched the archway. It was incredibly cold, nearly painful and Liara snapped her hand back. "I guess Alice was right, another box of mysteries."

Liara began to walk back to the main chamber when she heard a slight hum come from the central tower. The floor began to vibrate as well. Turning around, Liara could see the archway's center begin to glow with an ethereal light. Where it was coming from or how it was made was beyond Liara's train of thought. She did retain enough mental faculties to realize she should record any and all data she could with her omni-tool.

As she tapped away at the holographic screen, the archway's light began to grow larger and more intense. Just as Liara finished setting up her recording, the light seemed to flicker from the inside out.

"Goddess... What's happening?"

The light flickered more, rapidly increasing in frequency and in time with the vibrations of the floor. Dust and pebbles from the cavern's overhead stalactites began to shake off. Part of her mind told her to flee, the other to stay and watch. Before she could decide which side to listen too, the archway's light shone brightly without any flickering.

Without any warning, something came flying out of the archway's light, which promptly shut off, and landed a few scant meters away from her feet. The smell of ozone and copper hung in the air, and Liara could see a small pool of what appeared to be blood beginning to form underneath what she could see to be an entwined pair. One of which appeared to be an incredibly intricate piece of machinery that was exposed to some kind of high heat or impact damage, while the object underneath appeared to be a mech shaped like a human, with midnight black muscles and a crimson red visor. Just as she began to step toward the newcomers to see if she could help, the bottom one let out a sudden cry of pain as it roughly shoved the machine device off of it.

As it did so, Liara could see that the now flung off machine had buried two sets of claws deep into the humanoid mech on the ground. It was then that she saw the blood coming out from the wounds. The machine landed with a loud thud against the central column, but Liara's focus was else where.

"Goddess!" She cried out. _There's a person in there!_ Acting on instinct, she undid her toolkit which was currently attached to the back of her work suit. Inside, she had a small amount of basic medi-gel. She grabbed the vial and rushed towards what she assumed to be an armored soldier.

A thousand questions were running through her mind. _What kind of armor is this? Why did this human come through the archway?_ Although setting those aside was considerably difficult, she knew she had to in order to help this strange human.

As she knelt down beside the armored human, medi-gel vial in hand, she noted the locations of the wounds. The material the claws punctured appeared to be some kind of fibrous tissue, but it felt smooth and metal like to her touch. Running a scan with her omni-tool's basic medical response program, she made sure there weren't any more grievous injuries that would need the medi-gel first.

While she ran the scan, she noticed that it seemed to take longer than normal for it to complete it's task. Once it did, she was shocked by the results. The man before her had a broken leg, arm, several cracked or broken ribs, and severe internal bleeding. Yet it was all healing by itself, something that shouldn't have been possible for anything besides a Krogan or Vorcha. Erring on the side of caution, Liara took the medi-gel vial, extended it's built in needle, and pressed it directly into the wounds she could see. Pressing down the vial's plunger, she gave him the entire dose.

Running another scan of her mystery guest, she could see the medigel actually being spread by the humans body to where it was needed most. Without warning, her omni-tool suddenly became overly hot, burning the her suits outer layers. Ripping it off and throwing it aside, she saw smoke begin to rise from it.

Before she could contemplate what caused the normally rugged tool to suddenly overheat, she heard a slight hiss come from the human before her. Looking over the armor, she couldn't see where it could have come from. As she was looking for any potential spot where an oxygen tank could be, she heard the clink of metal on rock. Her eyes following the source of the sound, she saw the armor's face section had detached from the rest of the armor. Revealing the face of the man she was helping.

Looking over the human male's face, as she had no doubt it was a male judging by the strong jaw line and facial hair, she uttered the only thing in her mind.

"Athame... Who have you sent to me?"

* * *

**Codex: Medi-gel**

A human invention, this salve is the result of years of genetic and nannite research by human corporations to develop nannites reminiscent of the fabled nanosuits which were able to heal their occupants within moments. While a step in the right direction, further research led to the development of nannite shots currently only available for military personnel.

Medi-gel itself is the second tier version of what is available. It is most common in the galaxy due to its ability to be used by any species, while the first tier is relegated to households and the third tier is for private and military use.

The medi-patch is the first tier version of medi-gel, and is a topical application only of nannites, anesthetic, and cleansing agents. These are commonly used in households, as they come in several sizes and treatments based on the damage. Humans have called the medi-patch the 22nd centuries version of the bandage due to it being applied with a thin film that stays over the wound until it is healed.

The medi-shot is the third tier version of medigel and is used by emergency and military personnel. It is directly injected into the wound to stop bleeding and begin minor repairs. Medi-shots require a scan by a specialized medical omni-tool application so they can be instructed on what damage to be healed first.

This medical 'miracle' technology is one of the things that has endeared humanity to the Council, as it saved numerous Turian lives after the battle at Shanxi, and has continued to save countless lives since it's introduction into the galactic market.

* * *

**Classified Codex: Military Nannites**

The Alliance military, being comprised of only 3% of the total human population, has always looked for advantages to give it's soldiers. One of those being nannite injections. The standard nannite shot given at boot camp is available to the public for a fee, and all it does is monitor the person's health. Once a soldier has successfully completed boot camp, they receive the next shot. This shot increases the soldier's bodily capabilities in several ways. Primarily it decreases clot and heal times of minor wounds, slows bleeding of moderate wounds, and provides a base for any subsequent nannite injections via medi-gel or medi-shots to begin healing and reconstruction. There are rumors of more advanced versions that allow for the soldier's muscle, lung, and nervous tissue to be strengthend, as well as provide ocular HUD's, but no evidence has ever surfaced to prove it's existence.

Nannites as a weapon has never been explored by the Alliance military, simply for the reasons as any nannite weapon could easily become a Von Neuman device. This was another factor that softened the Council's views of humanities technological superiority when meeting the human ambassador's after Shanxi. Nannite weaponry or Von Neuman devices are classified under Tier II of the Citadel Conventions, which dictates what weapons can and cannot be used in war.

* * *

**A/N: So yeah... Another major change up from ME:TUH. Ryan Mitchell is on Therum to start off with instead of getting on the Normandy right away. The implications of that will make themselves known the coming chapters. Now I'm not going to explain why it was Therum this time around, rather the story itself will. Everything I do and write has a purpose behind it. Most of the time anyway. So if you question something in one chapter, chances are it will be explained later.**

**Now, if you guys don't already know my OC Ryan Mitchell, head to my Twitter page (Mitchell_DN7) to see a screen shot collage. More information will be revealed in later chapters as his background has changed slightly from ME:TUH.**

**Finally, let me know if you guys want me to have background/reading music picked out for this fic. I find having a certain play list for the kind of scene's I'm writing helps immensely, and I'll generally pick a song that matches a chapters mood from here on out. It'll be mostly instrumental, as choral works tend to take away from reading/writing.**

**As always, follow me on Twitter (Mitchell_DN7) for weekly-ish updates regarding TUH:R and Evolution.**


	3. Momento

**The Unsung Hero: Redux**

**Chapter 2: Momento**

* * *

**Track selection: **

**Look Around You – We Were Soldiers OST**

**Prime – Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen OST**

* * *

"_You've got to learn to let some of that weight off your shoulders airman. There's no need to be a real life Atlas."_

"_That's where you're wrong, sir. If it weren't for others like me, the world wouldn't have anywhere to rest their hopes, dreams, and fears on."_

* * *

_**[Spatial event cleared. Running suit diagnostics]**_

_****__**/|**_

_**[ ? External conditions]**_

_**/| Atmosphere: 68.901 kPa, life support capable mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, and trace gases**_

_**/| Gravity: 1.12 G**_

_**/|Temperature: 10 **_°_**C**_

_******/|**_

_**[ ? Subject 'Atlas' status]**_

_**/| Moderately wounded.**_

_****__**/|**_

_**[ ? Wounds]**_

_**/| Right forearm: Clean break. **_

_**/| Rib cage: Right false ribs shattered, true ribs fractured.**_

_**/| Lungs: Four puncture points. Two from external source. Right lung punctured, fluid building up. Left lung nicked, no fluid build up detected.**_

_**/| Cranium: Minor stress fractures.**_

_****__**/|**_

_**!Warning! Intracranial pressure 20 mmHg and rising !Warning!**_

_****__**/|**_

_**[ ? Cause]**_

_**/| Impact and wounds suffered prior to spatial event crossing.**_

_****__**/|**_

_**[ ? Solution]**_

_**/| Reduction of brain swelling via hypertension and hyperventilating to increase oxygenation.**_

_****__**/|**_

_**!Warning! Intracranial pressure approaching 50 mmHg !Warning! Brain and nervous tissue damage imminent !Warning!**_

_****__**/|**_

_**[Implementing solution]**_

_****__**/|**_

_**!Warning! Secondary wounds critical !Warning! Implementing user safety protocols !Warning!**_

_****__**/|**_

_**[ ? Cranial pressure]**_

_**/| 48 mmHg and dropping. **_

_**/| Long term memory centers damaged.**_

_****__**/|**_

_**/| Nanocells attempting regeneration of lost tissue.**_

_****__**/|**_

_****__**/|**_

_**/| Nanocell regeneration of nervous tissue not possible.**_

_****__**/|**_

_**{*Low level scan detected*}**_

_****__**/|**_

_**[ ? Firewalls]**_

_**/| Secure. **_

_**/|Initiating counter-measures.**_

_****__**/|**_

_**/|Wireless access achieved. Data mine in progress.**_

_****__**/|**_

_**/|**_

___**/|**_

_**/| Local data processed. Wireless network detected, accessing.**_

_****__**/|**_  


_****__**/|**_

_**(*Alert*)Foreign nannites detected(*Alert*)**_

_**/| Pausing wireless network access.**_

_****__**/|**_

_**/| [ ? Foreign nanotech]**_

_**/| Compatible with current systems (83% effectiveness)**_

_**/| Overriding programming to aid tissue regeneration.**_

_**/| Resuming wireless network access.**_

_****__**/|**_

_**/| Preliminary access achieved. Planetary network accessed.**_

_****__**/|**_

_**/| Intra/Extrasolar network detected.**_

_****__**/|**_

_**/| Processing priority given to planetary network. Secondary access achieved. Data mine initialized.**_

_****__**/|**_

_**(*Alert*)Wireless device processor insufficient (*Alert*) Overheat imminent (*Alert*)**_

_****__**/|**_

_**[ ? Data mine status]**_

_**/| 37 % complete.**_

_**/| Updating location and time. Level one integration of data begun.**_

_****__**/|**_

_**!Warning! HEPA-UV filters non-functional !Warning! Removing face mask to preserve on board oxygen supply !Warning!**_

_****__**/|**_

* * *

**Friday January 3rd, 2183**

**Therum, Knossos System, Artemis Tau Cluster**

**Pit Mine Alpha-23, Excavated Prothean Dig Site**

"Athame... Who have you sent to me?"

Liara shifted herself so she could look at the man's face. The suit hid the rise and fall of his chest, but she could see he was breathing rapidly and sweating profusely. Now kneeling beside him, she grabbed her canteen, unscrewed it's top, and poured some of her water over his head. His incredibly short hair letting it simply roll down to the ground.

_Goddess... What am I doing? I'm not a nurse! This man probably requires medical attention beyond a simple dose of medigel!_ Liara's thoughts began to race as she looked the man over. For a human, he seemed to be of an average adult age. Young compared to her, but a fully grown adult by most species standards.

As her mind wondered, the man before her began to convulse, coughing hard. Before Liara could try to do anything, he turned his head toward her and coughed out a sizable glob of blood and mucous. Which landed on a green section of her work outfit. Once the coughing attack ceased, and the man remained unconscious, Liara simply ignored the blood/mucous spot on her uniform. After a momentary glance around the cavern, she stood up, grabbing the man's faceplate as she did, and closed her eyes. Taking a deep breath and reaching out with her arm, now bathed in an ethereal blue glow, Liara summoned her biotics to lift the man in front of her up. When he was a sufficient height off the ground, Liara brought her other arm up and motioned with it towards the cavern's lone entrance. Her guest moved in the same direction, moving in the direction her left hand did, while her right kept him aloft.

So began Liara's trek to bring her guest back to the surface.

* * *

_So I must conclude my report sirs that my mission of accompanying Dr. Liara T'Soni has not been in vain. Her work trying to solve the Prothean Question is by far the best chance we have at determining if the galaxy spanning empire was wiped out by a galactic level threat such as the Ceph. The only way to make sure that it wasn't the Ceph is by letting me continue my mission._

_Agent Bolia signing off._

* * *

Asari, while natural biotics, are still subject to the same exhaustion as the rest of the galaxy. Using biotics in a precise manner doubles the energy and concentration required, which was making it an exercise of endurance for Liara to bring her guest back up to the main chamber. By the time she managed to get her human deadweight back to the hall, she was exhausted. Enough so that she didn't see Alice working on a blue-hued omni-tool before she collapsed to the ground, dropping her charge in front of her as well.

Spinning around at the sound of bodies dropping, Alice quickly shut down the odd omni-tool.

"Doctor T'Soni!"

Running over to the Asari, Alice checked her vitals, then grabbed a marked canteen from her back pack. Kneeling down on both knees, Alice brought Liara's head into her lap and began to pour some of the canteen into Liara's mouth. The solution being a specialized biotic energy drink, Liara drank greedily for a few moments, stopping only to take a few deep breathes. When she had drank half the canteen, Alice brought it away from her.

"Doctor... What's going on here? What is... That..." Alice looked up to the thing that Liara had brought up and her eyes widened in shock. _It can't be... They all have been destroyed..._

Liara shifted and began to sit up, groaning and rubbing her head as she did so. "I do not know Alice." Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the face mask and handed it to Alice, not noticing the awe on her face. "But what or who ever it is we must help him. Do you have any medi-gel in your pack?"

Alice didn't respond, instead she was focused on the face mask, running her fingers over the visor's smooth surface, feeling the scratches and dents in it, while marveling at the texture of the fiber-like material that made up the jaw section.

_She has no idea what she's found._

"Alice!" Liara's sudden change in demeanor, from caring to demanding, shocked Alice out of her trance.

"Right! Uh, medi-gel medi-gel medi-gel," Alice murmured as she dug through her pack. "Ah ha!" Her hand diving deep into the pack, it came back out with two vials. As soon as they were in the open, Liara snatched them from Alice and moved over to their guest.

This time when she looked at the man's body before her, she could no longer see any sign of the puncture wounds. Nor was there any blood pooling up around him any more. Not taking any chances, Liara pushed the vial's needle between the bundles of fiber on his chest, approximately where one of the wounds was. When it would go down no further, she gave him the dose, and quickly followed up with the other vial.

Pulling out the vials, she waited for a few precious moments, hoping beyond reason that the medigel would somehow wake the man up. His breathing did seem to become less labored, but he was not responsive.

Alice just watched all of this from the side, taking in the look of concern Liara had for the man before them. She neared the doctor, and put her hand on her shoulder.

"Doc- _Liara_." She bade, getting the Asari's attention towards her. "We should take him to the other dig site. We have more supplies there and we can make him more comfortable. We can also keep him out of sight."

A look of confusion crossed Liara's face, "Why do we need to hide him? He came out of a device the Protheans were studying! This is something that can't, no _shouldn't,_ be hidden from the galaxy!"

Alice looked sullen, "You don't understand what, or _who_ he is Doctor. What his presence here represents, both for you and for the galaxy. If we don't hide him now, his life and perhaps yours will be taken away before you know it."

"Why?" Liara stood up, sending a damning glare towards her assistant. "How could you possibly know what he or who he is when he appeared from a stone column not ten minutes ago?!"

Alice also stood up, facing the doctor's accusing glare for a moment before she activated the blue-hued omni-tool, and brought up some images. "Look at these images Liara." Looking closer, Liara saw strange mechanical beings. Some small, some large, others impossibly huge. When she saw one that resembled the heap of machinery in the cavern her guest had arrived with, her eyes widened. "These images are from a hundred and sixty years ago on Earth. The other races all have but dismissed it but we really did face an alien threat, the Ceph, before we met the Turians. To combat them we used their technology against them. The result was this." The image changed to show that of an armored human male, wearing something very similar to what their guest had. "That armor is known as a nanosuit, and it is something that has been the goal of many people and corporations to replicate. Without success."

"How do you know all this? I thought you were just an archeological assistant!" Liara demanded, fury beginning to burn in her eyes.

Alice just smiled, "I am, but I am also an Alliance Intelligence Bureau agent. Now, you have to trust me. We have to get our guest here back to our original dig site. Once we do, I'll explain everything."

* * *

**Saturday January 4th, 2183**

**Therum, Knossos System, Artemis Tau Cluster**

**University of Serrice Prothean Dig Site**

Getting their guest into the truck was no easy feat, but the two women managed without causing any extra injuries. As promised on the way back, Alice explained to Liara why she was there. Needless to say, the Asari was shocked that the Alliance was so interested in her work. Being young as she was, by Asari standards, didn't lend much credence to her theory on why the Prothean's vanished. That was partly why she preferred working alone, as nobody usually was interested in discovering why the Prothean's vanished. Rather they just wanted info caches that could spurn a new wave of technological development.

Once they got their guest to their dig site, it was easier going as they were able to use some cargo sleds to carry the man down. It was a recent addition, but at the bottom of the dig site were some living quarter prefabs, which allowed Liara and Alice to sleep in relative comfort compared to being at the surface.

Luckily, with a spare cot available, they set it up in a pre-fab that was supposed to hold any large Prothean artifacts that may have been uncovered. It was large and mostly empty, with a cataloging table in a corner and some shelves to hold artifacts on the wall. Not the ideal solution, but it was a non-threatening environment to wake up to. With their guest now 'secure' and after assurances that the suit would take care of any injuries given time, Alice regaled Liara with some human history, telling her about Hargreave, Rasch, and Gould, the men solely responsible for the discovery at Tunguska over 250 years ago, the eventual debut of the nanosuit battle armor, and the rise of the Ceph threat.

Liara paid attention, taking mental notes whenever she could. Alice skipped a majority of the details, rather strove to get a basic understanding of the century long tale across. To have proof of an ancient alien race besides the Prothean's is nearly unfounded (as evidence of the Inusannon, a race that predated the Protheans by fifty thousand years was even harder to come by), let alone one even older by several millenia, but it was laying down just a few meters away from her. The question of how he arrived was something neither of them could answer, though.

With the sun setting on the surface, and an alarm on Alice's omni-tool, the two of them decided to get some rest and discuss things in more detail in the morning. Each bade each other good night before Alice went into her prefab and closed the door. Liara sat in silence, taking a few moments to digest what had happened in the past twelve hours. Still in disbelief, she got up from the table where her and Alice had been talking and made her way over to the third prefab, with the nanosuit face mask in her hand.

She stopped outside the prefab's door and stared at it's green holographic keypad. Holding the face mask between her two hands, she looked down at it momentarily, her thumbs rubbing over it's deep red visor. Working up her courage, she finally looked up and pressed the hologram, opening the door.

_Hmm... My suited mystery man is still unconscious... I wonder if he's in any pain... _She walked in a ways, making to grab a chair. _Did I really just call him 'mine'?_ Pulling the chair next to cot where the man laid, she smiled slightly. _I guess I did. I found him at my first dig site, and first archeologist on hand usually get's lead._ As she inspected for any signs of additional injuries that may have been missed by her or Alice, Liara couldn't help but stop over his chest. She could barely feel his chest moving beneath it, and if she listened closely she could hear the loud, slow thump of his heart. Putting her head directly on his chest, it became much clearer.

Sitting back, Liara took the moment to admire the suit's design. The way the fiber-like muscle groupings flowed together almost organically, then seamlessly ended at dull metallic joints and armor sections. Initially it was intimidating, the suit seemed to give off an air of indestructibility. When the face mask came off though, it's true nature as just a means to ensure survival came through. Leaning back, Liara's eye lids grew heavy as she looked over the form of her discovery, eventually closing as she fell asleep in the chair.

* * *

**Saturday January 4th, 2183 17:00 local**

**SSV Normandy SR-1, Communication & Conference Room**

**Systems Alliance Orbital Dry Dock, L5 point**

**Earth, Sol System, Local Cluster**

"Well it certainly seems that a joint species crew at this point is untenable." The synthesized voice of Ambassador Udina sounding a bit morose.

"While I don't believe it's not impossible, given the recent discovery I feel it would be negligent to try and get another group of Turian crewmen over here." A dual toned voice replied, belonging to the only Turian now present on the ship. "We must recover that artifact before news spreads of it's discovery."

"Agreed." A gravely voice added in from next to the Turian. "Admiral Wright briefed me on Zander's and Tatum's incident. Will Anderson being in command and having a human only crew reflect in any way on Shepard's candidacy Agent Kryik?"

"No it won't Admiral Hackett. While it would have been an interesting dynamic to try and get a multi-species crew operational on this ship, we simply do not have the time for it any longer."

Anderson, who had been silent the whole meeting thus far, finally spoke up. "Admiral, the Normandy and her crew are ready to go. We just need to finish getting our equipment on board and everyone their duty roster's."

Hackett eyed up Anderson, then nodded slowly. "Alright then. Captain Anderson, you and the Normandy will shove off at oh-six-hundred tomorrow morning, head for Arcturus to pick up remaining specialized equipment, then leave for Eden Prime by sixteen-hundred tomorrow. Agent Kryik, does that seem appropriate for you?"

Nihlus simply nodded in affirmation, turned, and left the room. Once the door's closed, Anderson stood up from the chair he was sitting in. Before he could speak, Hackett shook his head slightly before speaking to Udina's orange hologram.

"Ambassador, would you please inform the Council that the Normandy's mission to Eden Prime will continue as planned, minus the Turian crew. Once the artifact is recovered, we will get in contact with the Hierarchy to go over a more detailed crew selection process. Perhaps if the Asari or Salarians would be willing to send some of their own crew it might ease some tensions."

Udina didn't look too happy, "I'm sure the Turian Councilor will be ecstatic to hear about this incident if he hasn't already. Good day gentlemen."

Once the holoprojector fizzled out the image, Hackett turned to Anderson. "I know what you're going to say Anderson. The final word is that he's staying."

"Admiral, the crew are already beginning to suspect something is up. This guy you brought on board has only been seen a few times. When he is seen, he turns a corner and it's like he wasn't even there to begin with. At least be straight with me on who or what he is."

Hackett assumed his near infamous pose, left hand stroking his goatee with the right arm tucked underneath it in a considering gesture. When he brought his hand down, he looked pointedly over Anderson's right shoulder. "You know I can spot your lensing outlines right? Even if you've updated the thermal cloaking aspect, these old eyes of mine are still as sharp as the day we met."

Anderson turned around and didn't spot anything behind him, but he did hear a deep, bass-heavy chuckle.

* * *

**Sunday January 5th, 2183**

**Therum, Knossos System, Artemis Tau Cluster**

**University of Serrice Prothean Dig Site**

_**[Full suit diagnostic complete]**_

_****__**/|**_

_**/| Fiber Integrated Reactive Synapse Transceiver files uncorrupted by xenoceph intrusion attempt.**_

_****__**/|**_

_**/| DODnetSYSTEMS 1.2_1_9201 active and healthy. Initialization underway.**_

_**/| AF_STG_ATLAS_MOD Initialized.**_

_****__**/|**_ CRYNET SYSTEMS SUIT OS 3.1415 Initialized.

_**/| MitchellR_NS_XTOP 85% Operational.**_

_**/| Initialization Complete.**_

_****__**/|**_

_**/| All systems go.**_

* * *

**Codex: Systems Alliance – Technology**

**Technological Neural Linking / Brain-Machine-Interface (BMI)**

As humanity developed it's computing sciences, one area of interest was always in that of artificial intelligences. While the common idea of a sapient artificial intelligence was at the time of the Ceph Incursion impossible (as computers were only able to be programmed to do what they were told, and follow a preset guideline rather than make their own decisions), the Nanosuit 2 took the idea of artificial intelligences in a different direction; Brain-Machine-Interfaces.

By combining the human nervous system with an incredibly advanced AI suite, the Hargreave-Rasch corporation found a way to dramatically improve a human's cognitive function. Unfortunately with the loss of the first generation of nanosuits to the CELL corporation's obsessive Doctor Hurst, and the death of Nanosuit 2 Subject Prophet destroying the Alpha Ceph, those advances were lost.

However, the idea and theories were not. The idea of merging the human brain with a computer system to increase the human's capabilities was wildly attractive to many groups; Militaries, governments, businesses, sports teams, etc. It would take time, but by the Second Contact War, the Systems Alliance military has developed standard, but insanely expensive, procedures that allow any of their members to link with a compatible device.

The most common device is naturally the omni-tool, which is linked directly to nerve fibers in the wrists. These omni-tools are standard issue in 2183 to all Alliance soldiers, and are marked by their distinctive blue hue. While the applications for such technology in a military setting are numerous, the Alliance has kept most of them classified. Pressure from the Council to release this technology to the general galaxy has slowly introduced generic omni-tools that have limited connectivity to the wearer. It is suspected that as Alliance R&D develops the technology more, the more will be released for public use.

Current rumors for what the Alliance currently is using the technology for ranges from VI-assisted human piloting to combat tactics to hacking.

* * *

**Codex: Governments – Citadel Races**

**Systems Alliance & Turian Hierarchy**

The Second Contact War, or Relay 314 Incident, serves as a distinctive reminder to both sides to follow protocol over exploration policies and military actions. Up until that point, the Hierarchy had reigned supreme in military matters with the largest standing fleet and army. While they lack the Salarian's technologically advanced armaments, or Asari hard hitting huntresses, the Turians are highly disciplined with excellent equipment by Citadel standards.

The Systems Alliance in comparison is often compared to being the culmination of the Asari huntress, Salarian tech, and Turian discipline. While practically miniscule in comparison to the Hierarchy, the Alliance fully believes in the quality of their soldiers, the equipment they wield, and the hit and run tactics meant to disrupt an enemy force before engaging in lightning fast pushes for territory with blitzkrieg style tactics.

When the two forces met for the first time on Shanxi, it was a fight unlike the other expected. Human fire teams and platoons armed with slow firing, but deadly accurate weapons would try to ambush Turian patrols, only to become pinned by the sheer volume of equally accurate return fire that would then be augmented by nearby patrols or aircraft. The Turian patrols, when they did manage hits on the humans, were stunned at how quickly their shields could replenish themselves and at how fast the humans could move.

Human guerrilla tactics versus Turian occupy and suppress tactics will forever be studied by military academics in the future. The battle for Shanxi doesn't have a clear cut winner, as before the Turian's had fully prepped to use orbital bombardment to smite the human resistance into capitulation, the vaunted Second Fleet arrived and destroyed the Turian fleet in orbit with a salvo of PAX and SIX rounds.

As such, relations between the Hierarchy and the Alliance can be volatile. The Turians, many who believe the humans only held out due to their technology, often are of the mind that the Alliance should be required to release any and all military technology the Citadel races don't have. Humans are often seen as being the overly curious child experimenting with technology they don't fully understand (ref: Einstein-Rosen Bridge 2130 Experiment). This provokes the response that the Turians had no right to go and invade a colony for breaking a law that wasn't even known about. Which is usually followed up by a comment on how they are just jealous they don't have as good of gear and that humans have the right to their own technological pursuits. If punches haven't been thrown by this point, it is generally considered a surprise.

* * *

**A/N: Well... Not my best chapter in my opinion (side note, the Nanosuit logs are NOT formatted the way I'd like them to be as FF's stupid filter prevented me from getting it to look the way I wanted), but I'm beginning to outline the tech the Alliance has in advantage over the Council. BMI is a huge factor, and since the nanosuits have been 'lost', this is a tech that took a long to develop on the level I'm describing. **

**Think about it, actually having an omni-tool connected to your nervous system so all you have to do is think about what you want to do. To put it in perspective, the average reaction time is around .250 milliseconds. Meaning that's that time the thought of pressing a button, or moving a limb, that passes before the signal reaches the muscles and they contract/relax. Now add in the time it takes for you to type even a single word or sentence, and the time saved with direct interface adds up.**

**Throw in a VI or AI like on the Nanosuit 2 (which shortens reaction times to .08 milliseconds) as well? Salarians might as well be Elcor compared to that.**

**If you guys like (or hate) my track selection or have suggestions let me know!**

**On that note, till next chapter!**

**Follow me on Twitter, Mitchell_DN7!**


End file.
